Admiral Nimitz commanded his Pacific Fleet--while the buildup for invading France was taking place in Britain--to advance through the the Pacific by "hopping". Hopping was short for jumping from island to the next to get closer to Japan.
In the fall of 1943, the navy was ready to avenge on their island hopping duties. Tarawa was a coral reef atoll, which meant that the water over the coral reef wasn't deep enough to allow boats to get to the shore. Meaning the army had to wade through the beach to get ashore--causing them to get tired and sometimes drown if not being killed by Japanese soldiers first. One in three made it ashore, and even then, the battle was still far from being over. Many started to wonder how many lives would be lost in trying to defeat Japan because over 1,000 troops died in Tarawa.
Americans then attacked Saipan, Kwajalein, Tinian, and Guam and captured them by August of 1944. Months later, Japan was attacked by B-29s.
Admiral Nimitz commanded his Pacific Fleet--while the buildup for invading France was taking place in Britain--to advance through the the Pacific by "hopping". Hopping was short for jumping from island to the next to get closer to Japan.
In the fall of 1943, the navy was ready to avenge on their island hopping duties. Tarawa was a coral reef atoll, which meant that the water over the coral reef wasn't deep enough to allow boats to get to the shore. Meaning the army had to wade through the beach to get ashore--causing them to get tired and sometimes drown if not being killed by Japanese soldiers first. One in three made it ashore, and even then, the battle was still far from being over. Many started to wonder how many lives would be lost in trying to defeat Japan because over 1,000 troops died in Tarawa.
Americans then attacked Saipan, Kwajalein, Tinian, and Guam and captured them by August of 1944. Months later, Japan was attacked by B-29s.
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